Clone Wars Gambit: Siege by Karen Miller Page B

prospect. “Let it take us back to the city. With luck we can hole up in our previous palatial residence and contact Yoda from there.”
    Anakin groaned. “Except that means three more days stuck here. Obi-Wan, in three days Durd could be ready to launch his first attack.”
    He gave Anakin his steadiest look. “I’m aware of that. But even if we were to head back to Lantibba right now, on foot it would take us longer than three days to get there. And with no food or water or hope of scrounging enough supplies—”
    “Then we can steal a groundcar!”
    “Anakin,
think,
” he said exasperated. “Torbel’s groundcars are one pothole away from disintegration. Not to mention the fact that Jaklin and Rikkard would raise the alarm five minutes after we’d made our getaway.”
    Anakin was scowling again. “Not if we smashed this comm hub they wouldn’t.”
    “Anakin, you’re still not
thinking!
All that would do is delay the inevitable. They’d tell the droid in charge of the convoy and
it
would raise the alarm. Now, do take a deep breath and
steady
yourself. You’re acting like a wet-behind-the-ears Padawan instead of a—”
    “Well,
excuse me
for not having ice water in my veins!” Anakin retorted. “I’m not like you, Obi-Wan. I can’t snap my fingers and turn myself to stone!”
    Astonished, Obi-Wan stared at him.
    “If we don’t get out of here soon, people are going to die,” said Anakin, furiously pacing. “While we’re twiddling our thumbs in sunny Torbel, Dooku’s going to order a strike using that bioweapon and hundreds, maybe thousands, of innocent people are going to
die!
”
    And if there was one thing Anakin found utterly intolerable it was the thought that a single soul might perish because he reached them too late. Did too little to save them, and not soon enough. He’d always been obsessed about that, but ever since Shmi…
    “You don’t know that,” he said gently. “Not for certain.”
    “I know it’s possible, Obi-Wan,” said Anakin. “Even probable.”
    “Perhaps,” he admitted. “But Anakin, our options are severely limited. We
can’t
risk getting caught. Our best chance of stopping Dooku and Durd is biding our time here until the convoy comes.”
    “Three days,” said Anakin, turning away. “You know as well as I do how much can go wrong in three days.”
    “And
you
know the price that’s paid for acting too soon. For rushing in without a thought for the consequences.
You know the price, Anakin
. Better than anyone.”
    Time spun backward for both of them. A racing gunship. Enemy blasterfire exploding indiscriminately. Terror and fury and grief burning through the Force.
    I can’t take Dooku alone. I need you. If we catch him we can stop this war right now
.
    But Anakin hadn’t listened. Heedless, intemperate passion getting the best of him, he’d rushed to challenge Dooku. And where had that left them? With not just an arm lost, but the chance to avoid years of bloodshed and destruction ruined.
    “What?” Anakin, shocked, sounding so young, took a step backward. Bumped into the hub equipment, jarring his hurt shoulder, and flinched. “Obi-Wan—”
    What he’d said was a savage truth, one he’d never thrown in Anakin’s face… until now.
    “I’m sorry,” he said swiftly. “But Anakin, I was right then and I’m right now. No matter how hard it is, no matter our feelings, we must wait. I
need
you to wait.”
    Anakin stared at him. And then, after a long pause, he nodded. “I know.”
    Obi-Wan folded his arms, relieved. “Good.”
    A flash of temper, like a fire’s dying sparks. “No, it’s not good. It’s
necessary
. They aren’t the same thing.”
    “You’re right. They’re not.” He unfolded his arms. “And now we should go before we’re discovered here. But first—let me see to your shoulder.”
    It was equal parts peace offering and practicality. Anakin needed full mobility, but
he
needed to make things right between them. Not just